Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes

Surprise Mom on Mother’s Day with a home-cooked meal featuring recipes from Southern Get-Togethers, the cookbook by Top Chef winner Kelsey Barnard Clark. Her crisp, tangy pickles, made from green tomatoes, are infused with flavorful spices in the pickling liquid. They provide a delicious complement to Kelsey’s fried chicken dipped in hot honey.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (24 fl. oz./710 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup (2 oz./60 g) kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (1 1/4 oz./40 g) mustard seeds
- 1/4 cup (1 1/4 oz./40 g) coriander seeds
- 1/4 cup (1 oz./30 g) dill seeds
- 4 to 6 bay leaves
- 1 Tbs. sugar
- 3 cups (24 fl. oz./710 ml) water
- 4 green tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch (13-mm) rounds, or 4 cups (19 1/4 oz./600 g) green cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 6 to 8 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
Directions
In a medium pot, combine the vinegar, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, dill seeds, bay leaves, sugar and water and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until the salt and sugar are dissolved, then remove from the heat.
In a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-cm) casserole dish, combine the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Add the pickling liquid and let cool to room temperature. Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Serves 4 to 6.
Note: If you can’t find green tomatoes, use the firmest red tomatoes you can find.
Adapted from Southern Get-Togethers by Kelsey Barnard Clark (Chronicle Books, 2024)